Not sure if this should be in forums or here.. mods move to forums if the case
Have an outage with Foxtel in my area atm, during the call was told (& offered) as cable will be gone by 2020 they are offering anyone on cable Foxtel a free upgrade to satellite + upgrading the box to 4k box at no charge, call & enquirer if your on cable
Is NBN taking over the Telstra HFC?
if they do, how is the nbn hfc, aparently that's whats coming for my place, im guessing its better then the copper one?
Well they were going to buy the Optus HFC until they realized that Optus have put bugger all capex into it for years. I think they idea was to buy it and upgrade the infrastructure.
@serpserpserp: They did buy Optus HFC and it's unusable. Telstra HFC isn't a lot better.
Search for "Redcliffe NBN" to see the problems they still have with Optus HFC.
Telstra HFC is costing a heap more as well, it would have been cheaper to pull fibre to the homes but they won't back down and keep pushing ahead.
@serpserpserp: They bought it for $800 million of your tax dollars. They probably should have done a bit more than kicking the tyres beforehand.
They're not replacing the HFC cable with anything better, they are just doing maintenance and hey presto third world internet at a first world price and a fourth world speed along with fifth world reliability. Welcome to the NBN of yesterday.
I've been on Telstra HFC for the past 7 years and it's been brilliant. 114/2.4 (now 114/5 after a recent upgrade) and no congestion issues whatsoever on a "shared medium" protocol, despite what the FTTP zealots trot out whenever HFC is discussed. News flash: FTTP is also a "shared medium". There is no such thing as infinite bandwidth.
I'm staying on Telstra's HFC until the cut off in November because giving up 20Mb/s of downstream is more important than 46 up.
If anyone on HFC (or any other NBN protocol) suffers from congestion issues it's not hardware, it's the ISP cheapening out on CVC purchased from NBNco.
@daitro: I think you missing an important point. You might have been one of only a handful of people in your street/neighborhood that use Telstra HFC over the past 7 years and as such, your speeds are great.
What happens when every single person in your neighborhood gets compulsory switched to NBN HFC. They all use the same cable in the evening, all watching netflix and thats when the "shared medium" comes into play. Fact remains that under these conditions, HFC will bottleneck before an equivalent optic fiber.
@daitro: On the other hand I've been on Telstra cable in Sydney for the last few years too and my 100mbps+ service is definitely impacted by congestion. If someone starts downloading anything significant between 4pm-10pm it will render the connection unusable for online gaming.
Much better and more consistent than Optus cable though.
Yes. But they'll share it with both Telstra and Foxtel for a while. But I think Foxtel have to be off by 2023…
Yes and as things come over foxtel.have to get off onto satellite. Tonnes of people when they cut over to NBN though seem to be dunpinng Foxtel now that they can gerbnetflix/Stan ect
The only way Foxtel can fight back is to get heavily into the 4k content. But they just aren't organized enough.
Just an FYI I had both cable Foxtel and satellite Foxtel, and in my opinion cable was much better (both on the same IQ at the same address, both from Foxtel not Telstra).
When connected via satellite the IQ is slow, to the point of being unresponsive.
May have something to do with the IQ using the internet for some functions (such as details/display photo/etc for all programs in the UI).
Without an internet connection you just get blank screen with title.
Free box upgrade works for IQ2 satellite to IQ4 satellite as well if you ask nicely :)
Does this apply to Foxtel with Telstra customers too? Or have you tried only with Foxtel direct?
Apologies. I’m with Foxtel direct so not sure via Telstra. Have told quite a few friends and they’ve all had success in getting a free upgrade (also Foxtel direct).
They are very stingy from my experiences. But nonetheless i can always try :)
@Monty1089: Foxtel from Telstra here - I asked for the upgrade and was asked to pay the fees, I asked to waive the fee and was reluctantly offered the upgrade to iq4 free of cost. While processing the order I was told since I’m on cable they can’t do it as iq4 is sat only and that was the end of the conversation. This was about a month back. Unsure if anything has changed since then. I haven’t chased this up as I don’t have a 4K tv, am
I missing in anything by not having the IQ4?
Depends on your call centre operator. I got refused the first time, okayed the second.
@tightarse wow had the gall to call me few days ago and offer me a “special rate” of $75 to upgrade my iq2 (sat) to iq4.
Quoted standard price of “$299”
Can’t wait for them to call back..
You just tell them your having NBN issues on HFC and been told by NBN tech you need to remove Foxtel. Don't let them charge you
Well I’m already on satellite so hfc issues wouldn’t impact my foxtel but I like your thinking
I know it's popular to shit on Foxtel on this place but I will say that the 4K channel has been glorious.
Yes, I just wish Foxtel would allow 3rd party apps onto their box too. They aren't fooling anybody people are still using Netflix and the like anyway.
My ideal box would have free to air DVR/Foxtel sport/free to air catch up apps/Netflix/stan/Amazon prime video and plex.
I'm dreaming probably, closest thing is probably the fetch box but it doesn't have Plex, Fox Sports and Amazon prime video(not a deal breaker).
Satellite is no good if you rely on foxtel cable for your free to air channels.
IQ4 gives you access to 23 free-to-air channels now as long as you hook up a free-to-air antenna :)
But yes, if you have no antenna at all, then you’re right.
My house doesn't have an antenna on the roof and an indoor antenna has never worked.
Ditto, we tried an antenna and still couldn't get reception.
Told call centre operator I will be the last customer on cable.
I don't see it as an upgrade, grandmother has sat and it is affected by weather and EPG is slow. No Thanks.
Already cancelled Foxtel when they refused to give the 4K box for free a few months ago. Their loss. Haven't missed it at all, content is not good enough to justify the monthly cost.
Yeah same here. I told them I have it for the afl and their solution was for me to have 6 channels for $10 a month until the footy comes back on so I don't have to pay an install few again… good thing I'm not going back.
I have Foxtel bundled with Telstra NBN. I had an IQ2 for many years and recently called up Telstra to ask for an IQ4 at no cost as I’ve paid for that old box for so long. They gladly supplied me an IQ4 (and love it) at no cost. Only thing I had to install myself but easy to do so. I think the threat of leaving is enough to get an upgraded IQ anyway.
With this, did you have to send the old IQ2 back or do you get to hang onto it? I have contemplated doing the upgrade but the IQ2 is pretty reliable and want the option of going back if the IQ4 turns out to not be to my liking.
I had to send it back. They send out a new IQ4 and you use that box to send back the IQ2. My IQ4 has been great and reliable so far. Only issue is all recorded shows go with the IQ2 plus all your schedules recordings. You’ll have to set them back up on the IQ4.
I'm assuming @R3PN that you previously had IQ2 via satellite?
Correct. Tried to do the same for my parents who are not on satellite and then agreed to it up until they tried to process the order and it failed due to them not on satellite.
Does this include the very old Austar box the one that cant record will the Austar/Foxtel user be eligible for a free upgrade
???
was about to cancel when they refused free upgrade months ago but in-laws whinged! so ended up paying extra plus upgrade for the foxtel, wish there was a way to cancel in-laws too..
There is, a divorce…will probably cost you more in the long run though than the Foxtel extras.
true that :(
Why would it matter to the in-laws?
Is satellite mean internet? How does it differ to foxtel now then?
Foxtel satellite is for payTV channels only.
NBN satellite (Sky Muster) is for country areas.
Assuming you have cable pavTV, your internet will most likely be over NBN HFC.
You have a physical satellite receiver on your premises pointed at the satellite carrying the foxtel signal. Your IQ boxes are connected to the satellite dish.
Satellite when talking foxtel is DVBS, no internet involved.
Single satellite broadcasting a digitally encrypted video stream signal (one directions) towards the earth. The receivers (IQ boxes) require a decryption card to decrypt and render the NDS encyrpted DVBS streams.
Foxtel now completely different to foxtel satellite services.
Ic, that makes sense. How do they install the dish at apartments?
So they install the dish and route it to the hfc cable that is already at each unit?
Yeah for apartments, they install them on the roof and have cables coming to each unit from there. They tend to have distro boxes for signal attenuation.
I believe they reuse the HFC where available, though when they just did our unit blocks, left HFC in place and ran extra cables from satellite.
If you've got a bunch of silver IQ satellite boxes, call them up and tell them they switch off for no reason (which mine happen to do) and they'll send you a nice new IQ4 free of charge and tell you to chuck the old ones
IQ2 to IQ4 how do you move the stuff you have saved on the drive
Don’t think you can
I have IQ2 i have a cord that goes from the back of the box to the wall and i have a dish on the roof. I’ve had IQ2 for roughly 7-8 years what do i need to say on the phone in order to get a free upgrade to IQ4 4K?
4k also means hdcp 2.2 encription so better make sure that your tv, projector, av receiver are compatible.
Otherwise you will end up with no picture
So I jumped on the IQ3 the day they were released and it was an unstable mess. A few years later I get foxtel for the second time and the performance still isn't that great - mainly input lag from the remote. Does the IQ4 have any difference in performance?
I find it slightly faster - not as good as the IQ2. I also find the Bluetooth remote crap if you sit more than 2m away so buy an original infrared one (it still works)
With the IQ2 I had my routine for getting to the channel I wanted or the menu to record or whatever so down pat that I could do it with my eyes closed. The poor performance of the bluetooth remote makes the whole experience annoying so this alone would tempt me to upgrade. Interesting note about the IR remote too, cheers
Absolutely agree. I don't know how they can get away with having such a crappy product
The iq3 supports the ir remote too by the way
Just tried Telstra Chat (Foxtel with Telstra sub) and scored the free upgrade to IQ4. Luck of the draw with reps I guess as 3 months ago would not come to the party.
Does this include the very old Austar box the one that cant record will the Austar/Foxtel user be eligible for a free upgrade
I have iq3 cable. How do they run 2 coax cables from satellite to my current single coax points? I have Foxtel points in the house. One in family lounge and one in home theater room. It’s a 1 year old house. I assume they need 2 coax points on each wallplate due to dual lnb?
Also how do they hide cabling since house is already built? Concern about running conduit on outside of house (aesthetics)
nice find - just rang Foxtel and they said no to free upgrade so I said I will go via testra - they put me through to Loyalty who have given me the Platinum HD and Free iq4 and free technician to come out and do the install but i have to pay 125 for the 2nd IQ4 only - so a good deal.
just spoke to foxtel, was told $75 for IQ4, asked to speak to the cancellation department and they said i qualify to have if for free. Persevere if they say no, was told oly cancellation dept have authority to give it out for free.
Everyone transitioning from Cable to Satellite for Foxtel is entitled to a FREE install as they're migrating everyone to Satellite by 2022.
I currently have Foxtel IQ2 via cable (old bundled Telstra deal) however will be connecting to NBN soon and have been told that my Foxtel will need to move to satellite..
Question for those who have already switched Foxtel from cable to satellite… Currently my foxtel box plugs into the wall… Does anything change there? Do they need to put a new connection on my wall or still use the existing one?
yep, they are desperate, as they know there will be a HUGE churn when they get kicked off HFC.
Everytime I call up, the only solution is to move to Sat.